10 Things You Give Up Living In A Tiny House

Living in a tiny house requires some serious lifestyle changes and, while they may take some getting used to, owning a small home can have its advantages. Initially, choosing to purchase a home that is less than 500 square feet will save a buyer thousands. Anyone can see that a 2,000 square-foot home priced at $125 per square foot will cost much more than a similarly priced home that is only 250 square feet. Tiny house owners will save money on their monthly bills also since they will consume less energy. With all of the advantages, there are several things that must be given up when living in a tiny house. Here are ten.

Privacy

When you live in a 200 square foot house, there is not a lot of room. For the most part, there is a living area that doubles as part of the kitchen, a bathroom, and then two rooms that are used as bedrooms. When inside, there is not much privacy. You will be bumping into each other and if you are attempting to do something in secret, it isn’t going to happen. To gain a level of privacy, you have to go outside of the house, which isn’t all that bad depending on the time of year.

Entertaining Visitors

If you liked entertaining family and friends in your traditional home, those days are gone. With barely enough room for your family, the tiny home is not built for entertaining. Getting 10 people inside your 250 square-foot house just isn’t going to cut it. You really won’t have much room for any visitors unless you are entertaining outside.

Indoor Space

Probably the biggest thing that one sacrifices when choosing to live in a tiny house is space. A typical home will be over 1,000 square feet and many are over 2,000. That is a lot of indoor living space. Children tend to have rooms to themselves and there seems to always be a room where someone can go to be alone. In a tiny house, you give up that space, which may not always be so bad.

A Big, Fancy Kitchen

There are many homeowners that envision a large spacious kitchen and dining area in their new homes. The kitchen is the area in a home where people gather most often, whether that is just members of the family or when having friends and other family over as guests. That idea must be quashed if entertaining the thought of a tiny house. Many tiny houses have a kitchen tied into a great room or sitting room. It will be where people gather; it just will not be very many people.

A Large Bathroom

Another room in a typical home that homeowners love to expand and spend money on is the bathroom. Large spacious showers and Jacuzzi tubs are lovely luxury additions to a huge bathroom. In a tiny house, you will be giving up all kinds of space and that includes the bathroom. Most tiny houses, 200 to 500 square feet, will have one bathroom that has the necessary components: a sink, a toilet, and a shower. There will only be one bathroom, too, not multiple ones so get used to sharing.

Keeping Belongings

If you tend to hoard things, owning a tiny home will cure your problem in no time. In a small house of 300 square feet, for example, there is just not much storage space. Therefore, if you tend to keep a lot of unnecessary items, like clothes you have not worn in years, you will have to part ways with them. Your wardrobe will remain fairly small and you will only be able to keep items that are absolutely necessary and have great value to you and your family.

Comfort

There is a certain level of comfort that one receives living a larger home. The ability to spread out and relax in a spacious room has its advantages. Being able to move around to different rooms to work or enjoy some free time alone is important in one’s home life. You give some of that up with a tiny house. There are only so many places you can go in a 200 square-foot house.

Decorating For Holidays And More

If you love the Christmas holiday season and all of the decorating that goes with it, you will be giving most of that up with your new tiny home. If you love a nice big Christmas tree, you just will not have any room for it in such a small home. Even all of the other decorations that may be typical in a larger home just will not fit into a tiny house. Any decorations that you put up at other times of the year may not work in a smaller house. As with everything else, you will have to become a minimalist with your decorating ideas.

Indoor pets

With a larger home, it is possible to have several indoor pets if you happen to be an animal lover. Having multiple dogs, cats, or other animals is certainly possible when there is plenty of room for them to run around. In a tiny home, depending on the animal and its size, having an indoor pet may be impossible. There is not much room for the humans in the household let alone adding an animal to the mix. Now, depending on where you live it is surely possible to have pets. They may just have to be strictly outdoor ones so make sure you have the land to provide them with their own dog houses and that you live in an area that does not have cold winters since pets should never be left outside in the cold, ever.

Big family/kids

If you are young and are considering a tiny or small house, one of the lifestyle choices you will have to make will concern starting a family. A small home under 500 square feet will house only so many people. If you happen to be considering several children and envision a large family, a tiny house might not be a good fit. It may be a good fit early on, but once more children come along there will be an increased need for space which a tiny home just cannot offer.